


Ten Years Later

by Dogsled



Category: due South
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-06
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-03-06 10:18:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3130904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dogsled/pseuds/Dogsled
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An brief whimsy AU where Ray Vecchio doesn't return to Chicago in Call of the Wild.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ten Years Later

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sineala](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sineala/gifts).



Ray had never come back from Vegas, but for Fraser, that hadn't seemed to matter. He got on well enough with his replacement. Stanley Kowalski didn't just _adjust_ to being Ray Vecchio. Over time, he made the life his own. Ray's siblings were as close to him as though he'd been born into the family, although after a while Kowalski put more distance between himself and the Vecchios. It was a sad truth that his continued presence only reminded them of their missing brother, and when Ma Vecchio passed away that absence was felt more deeply still.

But the life, the partner, the 27th--he adopted them all, and soon it came so easily to him that it was hard to remember a time when he hadn't been Ray Vecchio. He had more new friends than old ones, and those few who'd been there when the change had happened kept his secret easily enough.

Fraser turned out to be the most redeemable thing about it, though. Fraser was the best partner Ray had ever had, and when their second Christmas together had almost ended in them both dying in a caribou stampede, they were given plenty of time to bond over the New Year. They found love with each other, and Stanley Kowalski tailored another part of Ray Vecchio's life in his own image. 

Years passed. When Canada passed its new laws on same sex marriage, Fraser proposed, understanding of course that Ray couldn't really marry him until Ray Vecchio returned from Vegas--or until Stanley Kowalski was released from his own employment.

And then there was a mob war. It took everything out of them, drove the Lieutenant to an early retirement, and put Stella under the bullet not once but twice in the space of just a year. Then, investigating the Iguanas, Fraser and Ray were pulled over by three black cars.

"Ray Vecchio's disappeared," explained the man in the black suit, introducing himself as Agent Casey, of the CIA.

"I knew a Casey, once," Fraser said, but he was still apparently reeling from the explanation they'd been given, right there on the side of the road. Ray had been undercover for so long that he'd married - as Armando Langoustini - and had two children; twins, called Ben and Francesca. His work had been so important that the FBI hadn't put up much of a fight, encouraging him to settle in deeper, but then - just two months ago - they'd tried to pull him out, and Ray, his wife and his children, had vanished.

"We want you to find him," Agent Casey said, looking hard at Fraser. "You were his partner, and Detective Kowalski has been living his life for almost ten years. Between you, you must have some idea where he'd go."

"We were only partners for two years," Fraser said, glancing at Ray. "And Ray never actually met him. I'm not sure how much help we can be."

"Are you saying you won't do it? Or are you protecting him? You realize that concealing him would be a criminal act--"

Ray bristled. "Stow it. You think you can scare something outta us we don't know? We've been doing this job since forever."

"And we know the law," Fraser said, with an edge of ferocity in his voice that had developed over the years like a fine wine. Ray always knew when Fraser was annoyed when he pulled out this particular voice, and anyone accusing Fraser of criminal wrongdoing was going to be right at the top of that list.

"So you won't do it?"

"If Ray Vecchio doesn't want to be found," Fraser said. "Who am I to interfere with that? I don't work for the American federal government, and neither does my partner."

"I understand you're engaged," Agent Casey began. "It might not be so easy to--"

Now it was Ray's turn to hiss and spit like a cornered animal. He bristled - his hair was probably spikier too - and he wheeled on the agent. "You wanna make life more difficult for us? Go right ahead. We've beaten the odds plenty, beaten suits like you more times than I can count, and if you think you can swan in here and blackmail me or my fiancee into doing something we don't want to, you've got a real fight on your hands."

Casey frowned, then raised his hand to his ear. "Yes Sir," he said, after a few moments. "I can see you're determined," he continued, glancing between Fraser and Ray, and then his attention returned to his companions. "Let's move out."

"Probably got a Christmas party to get to," Ray sniffed, as the three cars tore away. Fraser smiled at him, watching the cars disappear, then slid his hand into Ray's.

"You know, they're probably waiting just around the corner to follow us."

Ray grinned. "Yeah probably."

"They're not going to find anything, even if they do."

"Waste of time, really."

Far north of the border, gathered around a fire, in the cabin that Stanley and Fraser had rebuilt together (ceremonially bringing three axes and using only two), Ray and his young family settled in for Christmas dinner. The snow beat gently against the window, and they raised their glasses to a Mountie and his partner; best friends, for life, and godfathers to their children.


End file.
